Mavericks Invitational judge Rusty Gibson issued a yellow alert Tuesday so the contest's competitors were ready to fly to Half Moon Bay, Calif. On Wednesday morning, Jeff Clark said strong south winds may cause the competition to be postponed, but at 1 p.m., the contest got a final green light and "the call" was sent out.

Three-time Mavericks champion Darryl "Flea" Virostko told KSBW that competitors will have to adapt to the wind by making smart decisions on which waves they drop into.

"It's going to be about making the biggest, heaviest waves," Virostko said. "But these guys surf Jaws (Maui) and it's windy over there."

When asked who he believes will win this year's Mavericks, Virostko chose one of the youngest surfers, Nic Lamb, saying, "he is really charging and has it in him."

"The swell stayed spinning longer so its generating more swell. They thought it was going to break up at first, but then it stayed together," Virostko said. Now, "it's coming straight at us from Hawaii."

Two highly respected surfers have died at the world famous wave break, including legendary Hawaiian Mark Foo in 1994.

Some competitors who are in the 2014 lineup were out practicing at Mavericks Tuesday, and many of them "got pounded," Jeff Clark said. Heavy fog shrouded towering walls of water with low visibility.

"Saw so many big wave rock stars get completely annihilated today, including myself," Ken "Skindog" Collins of Santa Cruz said. "But there were some amazing rides. Mavericks is a wicked lover -- loves you, and then rips you apart."

Alex Martins wiped out so hard he had to go to the hospital, and may not be able to compete on Friday.

Surfer Zach Wormhoudt of Santa Cruz said, “All the top guys from South Africa, Hawaii, Southern California, Australia were there. Some of the best guys were struggling real hard." Wormhoudt described Tuesday's waves as "gnarly, fun, (and) packing a lot of energy."

Shawn Dollar of Santa Cruz, who currently holds the world record for biggest wave ever paddled into, caught the most menacing wave of the day.

Heat 1 of the Mavericks Invitational includes three surfers from Santa Cruz -- Collins, Anthony Tashnick, and Ryan Augenstein -- as well as Jamie Sterling and Chris Bertish.

Forty years ago, one of the greatest boxing matches in history took place in an unlikely setting: the capital of the Philippines. Muhammad Ali's epic win over great rival Joe Frazier in 1975 became known as the "Thrilla in Manila."